Meet The Nudge Unit – The Snake Oil Salesmen At The Heart of Government

A bungled government sponsored online personality test has drawn scrutiny over the weekend after the Skawkbox blog revealed that no matter what answers the respondent gave to the probing questions the results were almost identical.

The test, which has already been inflicted on some unemployed claimants, turns out to be the work of the controversial ‘nudge unit’. Formally known as the Behavioral Insight Team, this seems to be a flaky operation of Oxbridge toffs and policy wonks established to ‘nudge’ people into doing what David Cameron wants them to.

This shambolic operation, currently running at a cost of around half a million a year, have managed to devise an online personality test which will tell you your ‘signature strengths’ even if you don’t bother to answer any of the questions. In a further example of this Government’s incompetence when it comes to anything at all to do with computers or the internet, a bit of further digging revealed a not for public consumption presentation left hanging about online for all to see and which details more of the work of the Nudge Unit.

The online personality test is nothing new. Welfare to work sharks like A4e have attempted to inflict anything from Neuro-Linguistic Therapy (NLP) to crystal healing (probably) on claimants in an attempt to cure people of unemployment. It seems that old any piece of bullshit can now gain currency if it helps to further the myth that unemployment is caused by unemployed people and not by a fucked economy.

What is new is this kind of pseudo-scientific garbage emanating from a government department which has the stated aim of tricking people into behaving as the state desires them to. Yet even this turns out to be bogus. The Nudge Unit’s techniques are far more than a combination of bribes and threats with a little bit of propaganda thrown in than any secretive thought control racket. The unit’s boss, David Halpern comes across like a sort of slightly spooky marketing manager who’s read a couple of books by Paul Mckenna and now wants to be him.

One so called success was recently splashed across the newspapers after they claimed to have doubled the number of people paying car tax after redesigning letters sent out to non-payers and adding the phrase “pay your tax or lose your car” in big letters at the top. Yet this isn’t a nudge it’s a threat. “Pay your tax or we’ll kill your children” would no doubt have been even more effective. Does it really take a team of government funded boffins to teach the DVLA how to threaten people better?

There are suspiciously few available details of their other so called success stories, which they claim include encouraging people to pay fines quicker by sending them a text message and persuading people to insulate their lofts by offering to pay to have lofts cleared as well – which is actually a bribe, not a nudge.

The Nudge Unit claim all their interventions are based on evidence from Randomly Controlled Trials. In a document co-authored by surprise Tory collaborator Ben Goldacre, the unit describe this evidence based approach. Unfortunately they have forgotten one very important part of the scientific process which is ‘peer scrutiny’. If they do not publish their studies in a clear and accessible way – with all the necessary background data – then we really only have their word for it that these trials have demonstrated the results they claim. And they are Government spin doctors. Which means they probably lie.

Now it may be that all this information exists buried on a government website or filed in a dingy office somewhere. But it certainly isn’t available on the Nudge Unit’s own website, or their boring blog. In fact over the last two and a half years they have only published five documents and none of these contains anything like hard scientific data. Perhaps someone should nudge them to make sure they’re actually awake.

One post on the blog contains details of a scheme for unemployed people they ran at Norwich Jobcentre. They claim they were able to increase the number of people who came off benefits within 13 weeks (note off benefits, not into jobs) by as much as 20%. They even have a graphic to prove it. Yet as is pointed out in the comments, they managed to bodge the trial. Three different changes were implemented into the way claimants were treated at the Jobcentre which they claim resulted in people coming off benefits quicker. But even if their results are accurate, and withstand statistical analysis, that means they don’t know which of the three measures actually worked. The Nudge Unit say they will release a ‘report’ into the study soon which will explain everything. Don’t hold your breath.

Far from being a shadowy Government mind control operation, the evidence suggests that the Nudge Unit are just another bunch of pseudo-intellectual scam artists who’ve blagged themselves lucrative government non jobs at the tax payer’s expense. It’s hardly surprising that a Government – who are as out of ideas as they are out of touch – are resorting to the dubious talents of snake oil salesmen preaching little more than the latest corporate fad.

chewie…you’d think so……but all this sort of “treatment” is to pacify the victim….pharm drugs et al…”i call this shut up therapy”….their are true psychotherapists that cure one, as i have already pointed out….and some that are so embedded with their unresolved abuse issues…that they merely inflict it….project it on to others…psychology used to be an art….now it is a science….any one can study this science and get a degree in it….but as for their motives in using it this another issue…..i have psychology quals….but it is rote learning….true healing is about freeing one’s own mind from within…kicking the crap out….and closing the door firmly shut…behind you…..

“Over half a million men of working age left the labour market over the course of the 1990s. In this
paper this remarkable decline is explored, and
the roles played by the interaction of skills,
long-term sickness and the disab
ility benefit system are highlighted. The analysis shows that the
decline in participation was almost exclusively among unskilled males and that this same group
reported increasing long-term illness. The generosity of the disability insurance system relative to
that of the unemployment insurance appears to have encouraged such workers to exit the labour
market. Strong evidence is presented of sizable labour supply responses to disability insurance
benefits, which would support that hypothesis. Bu
t it seems unlikely that this 1990s’ experience
will be repeated as disability benefits are now much less generous than they were at that time”

THIS IS FROM BOE 2004 ..the tories would hardly make benefits systems generous..all the same this stuff about labours over generous welfare system ruined the countr bollocks..this is bank of england doc..

chewie.. last thing to say re sw….i went for a job some years ago now….assisting head injured people….but the company were so overtly abusive….that i rung and told them…i left an answer phone message…i received a very anxious phone message….applogising profusely for their comments….offering me an interview….guess where i told them to shove it….there are good and bad get a good one….everything falls into place..it is funny how the truth always, makes sense

It’s disappointing to see Ben Goldacre in any way endorsing the fantasies of a bunch of woolly NLP mongers – I’ve always rather looked up to him. Still, I guess I’m just being naive. I dare say he got a nice fat consulting fee out of it. So that’s alright then…

@JV are these the wankers who came up with the idea for sending idiotic text messages to claimants stating you get more money if you were working..? sounds like their load of bollocks to me….money for old rope and all that,,,

Guy – they may well be ‘educated’ but that doesn’t necessarily mean very bright. Tony Blair started this stupid notion that 50% of school leavers should go on to university, but what didn’t get mentioned that all that happened is that the calibre of students and academic achievement fell, and many of the courses taught are either of dubious academic, or even educational value.

Some of the courses now on offer are indeed of the variety so wonderfully satirised all those years ago by the Monty Python team, a Degree in Rolling Down Grass Banks may be a ways off as yet, but with the advent of degrees in Hospitality, perhaps we are at the stage where a Degree in Toilet Cleaning isn’t so far fetched! (McDonalds already have their very own burger ‘university’)

Your results!
Think about how you can use these strengths in your job search and in your life in general

Try to find a new way to use them then everyday

Strength 1. Curiosity
You are curious about everything. You are always asking questions, and you find all subjects and topics fascinating. You like exploration and discovery.

Strength 2. Enthusiasm
Regardless of what you do, you approach it with excitement and energy. You never do anything halfway or half-heartedly. For you, life is an adventure.

Strength 3. Critical Thinking
Thinking things through and examining them from all sides are important aspects of who you are. You do not jump to conclusions, and you rely only on solid evidence to make your decisions. You are able to change your mind.

Strength 4. Originality
Thinking of new ways to do things is a crucial part of who you are. You are never content with doing something the conventional way if a better way is possible.

Strength 5. Social Intelligence
You are aware of the motives and feelings of other people. You know what to do to fit in to different social situations, and you know what to do to put others at ease.

still no wp for me atm no letters nothing so looks like i won this battle 🙂

Whatever would George Orwell have made of this? Why don’t the government concentrate on job creation (which would also stimulate the stagnant economy) instead of wasting resources on bullshit. It would be bad enough if it was harmless bullshit but this stuff is toxic.

Any sensible and sane government would do just that, but the one fly in the ointment is that it would cost to create real jobs. It isn’t about jobs though, it’s about creating scapegoats so that the welfare state can be gradually dismantled to the great applause of the stupid, aka as Daily Mail readers, who will realise, far too late when their turn comes that there is no longer a safety net to catch them when they too are thrown on the social scrapheap.
Even in Ireland, which we are told has an even more wrecked economy that we do, the dole regime is less harsh than our own, with interventions that seem very enlightened, (the dole rates are also much better, equating to the equivalent of £160 a week, but I think that includes an element for rent too, but still)http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/irish_social_welfare_system/social_welfare_system_in_ireland.html

I’m sure that perusal of the welfare systems of other developed European countries would be a worthwhile excercise too, especially if the options out of unemployment are concerned… I noticed that in Ireland there is a scheme to encourage the long term unemployed to return to education, where they retain their benefits.

Perhaps we could look at Denmark, which has the highest minimum wage level in the world, as well as decent social welfare, (it also has a union membership rate of 80%+, which isn’t unrelated).

If we’re to refute these bastards in government who continue to tell us lies, we need to inform ourselves and let them know in no uncertain manner that we know they are treating us like mushrooms. Take a look at this very informative video made by Bristol IWW:

Our governments continually peddle outright lies and half-truths in the hope that they will take on a truth. The fact that so many seem to believe that the country can no longer afford this or that is tragic, as it means that the ruling class are already on their way to victory. The UK has the 5th largest economy in the world, and is literally afloat with money, in fact there has never been so much money around. The idea that the country is skint is nothing short of laughable. Our politicians still draw their huge salaries plus expenses, and the huge corporations that dominate our lives still manage to make very healthy profits. This money only comes from one place, our pockets. It’s true to say that neither me, nor the vast majority of those of us who regularly read this blog are even in the ‘doing okay’ category. I certainly believe that if Joe or Jane Bloggs wants to work his/her arse off he/she deserves every penny, (so long as they exploit no-one in the classic sense), but making a decent basic living shouldn’t be a struggle, it should in fact be a basic human right. A place to call home should also be a basic right, I mean a place to live that is really affordable, in that it’s there as of right, with no rent to pay on it. (It has always astounded me how housing associations can, on the one hand talk about the ‘right’ to decent housing, yet on the other hand evict people for not paying what’s laughingly called an ‘affordable’ rent. Housing isn’t a right, it’s merely a privelige) Of course the rich and the powerful wouldn’t like this at all, as it would impoverish them, or at the very least ensure that they had to live off what they, or their ancestors had already stolen off the ordinary worker.

Work does bring with is dignity, but let’s cast our minds back to the early days of industrialisation. One of the biggest difficulties that factory owners had with the earliest industrial workers was that they had a very different work ethic. They were prepared to work, and work extremely hard for their own benefit, but once they’d earned what they considered to be enough to cover their own needs they tended to stop working and enjoy themselves. Celebrating Saint Friday was common, and the really devout made sure that they celebrated Saint Monday too!

@funky fish i would get esther mcvey to tell him he would come out of it, then send him to an atos wca where they will tell him theres nothing wrong with him at the same time they are really trying to help him by suggesting he look for a rescuer on UJM that takes on ppl in the wp.

Next time you sign-on, prepare to be Nudged. Only this morning the JCP advisers emerged from a meeting right before opening time, freshly equipped with a new strategy from the Behavioral Insight Team. Instead of solely concentrating on what you’ve done during the last fortnight are creating an “Action Plan” for the next two week. I received my ‘treatment’ today requiring me to apply for some bs loan, for some bs card, so I can apply for some bs jobs which I am not physically or mentally able to do.

Complete nonsense, but its point is probably to facilitate the sanctioning of claimants. It would be easy to have hundreds of these things available and to direct claimants to complete them. Claimants will make slip ups and even those who do not get sanctioned will see their next payment delayed. They will have to jump through a lot of hoops to get their benefit reinstated. “Nudge” = “Hassle”.

Perhaps the mere existance of the Nudge Unit offers a first explanation of how some incompetent pleb, of the type of George Iain Duncan Smith, could ever become an MP, let alone a Minister of State…. and, as for Esther McVey, she still lives with her daddy, with her greatest claim to fame being as a mere autocue reader on TV.

“Changing the defaults around when heating systems were turned on & off” what in the name of sanity is this fucking bollocks!? Otherwise in plain english ” sit at your desk & freeze cos the heating’s been turned off”.
What the hell is going on. why the use of all this Orwellian double-speak? Has 1984 really come to pass 29 years later?

@kittycat if govt is stupid to piss money away on these con merchantss then its probable they will wanto make it look impressive even though its tosh, i wonder if the public accounts commitee will ask if its money well spent? amazing that they have a go at claimants but dont give two flicks about the amount of money thrown at psycho babble like this..

http://www.industry-forum.org/biography.cfm?speakerid=212
Dr David Halpern is a senior fellow at the Institute for Government, currently on secondment to both No.10 and the Cabinet Office full time to head the Behavioural Insight Team, and support on the Big Society and wellbeing agendas.

David previously worked as Chief Analyst in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit (2001-2007). He led numerous reviews, including the UK Government’s Strategic Audits and recent Policy Reviews; set up the Social Exclusion Task Force and drafted its Action Plan; and authored many of the Strategy Unit’s most influential papers, such as on Life Satisfaction and on Personal Responsibility and Behaviour Change.

Before entering government, he held tenure at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Cambridge University, where he still remains an Affiliated Lecturer. He has also held posts at Nuffield College, Oxford; the Policy Studies Institute, London; and as a Visiting Professor at the Centre for European Studies, Harvard. He has published widely including books on Hidden Wealth of Nations (2009); Social Capital (2005); Options for Britain: a strategic policy review (1996) and Options for a New Britain (2009), and Mental Health and the Built Environment (1995).
05 July 2011 – Lunch Meeting – London

Can nudge work?

Before gaining power the Conservatives expressed interest in Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein’s “nudge theory”. This strand of behavioural economics aims to change public attitudes, steering people away from laziness and bad choices towards beneficial decisions based on self-interest. Government are seeking to shift the way we think in areas as diverse as pensions and savings, alcohol intake and healthy eating. So what evidence is there that nudge works? And how? Join us to find out.

@Bob: A report conducted by the House of Lords Science and technology sub committee concludes, ‘that nudges might be necessary but not sufficiently effective in changing the behavior of the population’

@PAT i’m wondering why atos are going to be using hospital areas to assess people for PIP…they have their own assessment centres..all this will do is add to the waiting lists and cause resentment for patients..
unless thats also part of it plus it makes you wonder if assessing patienst might be next kick out patients that cost too much find them fit for work that means the privatised NHS wont have to treat them..

rationing of NHS has been mentioned now quite a few times..lets not forget it was the health and welfare bill…

re questionnaire nudge – cock up or conspiracy ? bit of both I reckon – its psychological terrorism to compel claimants to do pointless tasks – like that army technique of getting squaddies to clean the ceiling with a toothbrush. The whole point is that the task is arbitary, useless and disempowering – keep that up and the isolated individual is putty in a very short time – signing on in the 70s 80s and 90s was a doddle compared to now, this time they mean business – they have thought the unthinkable (Frank Field, you evil fucker) and are now putting it into practice

When Blairs government came to power I was at a gathering of labour members(of which I was not a friend got me a ticket) and saw Frank Field being mullied by a 70 year old woman, a lifelong labour supporter who hated the bones of Frank Field, Tony Blair and new labour, I was studying politics at the time so knew what Blair had in store also. It was a pleasure to shake the womans hand before she was evicted by a man in drag as security.

“Try not to aim too high” (low IS the new high).
“You can work any number of hours” (don’t even waste time on sums).
“16 hours a week is all you need. Salary’s not important; nor is the actual job role.”
“A minimum wage job is okay – Universal Credit ensures ‘enough’ pay.”

The ‘take any job’ JCP advisers advise is ‘an idea’. The argument goes that ‘any job’ could potentially be better than none. Traditionally, people balance where they are at in regard to flexibility/their overall need for ‘any job’ as against ‘any job’. And not everyone necessarily believes themselves to be ‘brave/clever’ enough to move from role to (different) role, and be successful -or even ‘successful enough’. Thinking that anyone/everyone can simply be manhandled into a job (any job), & if they are lucky, be given some training, & things will be fine thereafter, might be a 50/50 or other made up figure likelihood.

As guy f. has said, – we often look for work previous experience tells us we can do and ‘market ourselves’ as a potential ‘best person’ for those jobs. If, based on some version of reality, we believe we can do a certain type of job (and have evidence to back up our claim), we are more likely to get a job offer. We gain experience, skills & bits of paper as and when we can, as recommended at school/college, trying to complete (relevant) training along the way and hope an employer thinks we’re worth the risk.

The new place to look for ‘ideal’ job roles is called Job Match – as if some importance has been attached to matching people’s – actual – skills with a job – but this doesn’t ‘match’ the reality. DWP/JCP advisers aim to dictate the work we do/number of hours we take. They want to play fast-and-loose with us – removing autonomy as well as conventionally-accepted ‘norms’ that it’s our responsibility to find a way through any obstacles to our finding work.. The unstated aim is to erode decision-making abilities. When we reach a point where we forget that we previously trusted our own judgement/instincts and surrender our souls (effectively) – any work/life knowledge accumulated over years will count for less and even less. And may as well be put to one side. If/when we no longer trust our own abilities (or even before that), it will become ever-easier to push (a nudge being too gentle) us into work roles ‘chosen’ for us. There are clear parallels between this current modus operandi and the way that many, if not all, abusive relationships work by constantly seeking to limit freedoms, whilst increasing dependency – unless successfully challenged.

it is no coincidence that a lot of these mugs are also ultra religious – the ‘muscular christianity’/catholic variety – Field, IDS, Blair, Brown, Hoban – people with god on their side are capable of anything…..

arsetoss…the ultra pious…look at me i have values….i am moral..i read this book or that book…i do as i am told…listen to this or that fire and brimstone sermon….they say, look at my credentials….?
if you don’t “match” me and my standards, you are nothing,a sinner and should be full of shame …
like woa is me man, up on this page….but you or the likes of you created this mess and now….feed on it’s victims…”look how busy i am sorting this mess out….”
now all finely honed in format of the machine that is agenda 21….using it’s chief tool, weapons of mass distraction…..in the ministry of pointless exercise, lurks the terrors it is fabric of….the actual doing of the pointless exercise….or else….

@donkey i never understood why everyone was so shit scared of her..the stupid bigoted narrow minded humorless harridan..”oh she was tough” she turned so many times and jumped on any bandwagon ppl see bullying as strength..

What underpins “nudge” is bullying – this is what happens more overtly if you refuse to go along with the opinion of these types of microfascists.

Further non compliance results in persecution.

“Nudge” is sales techniques applied to human behaviour.

Btw “Paradise Lost” by John Milton, though a bit difficult to read for many modern readers, is an excellent treatise on telling wankers like our present shower of political dross to fuck off, fuck off hard, and fuck off for all eternity.

I actually read the opening of Book 1 of “Paradise Lost” during a Restart Interview while some poor ill informed dole worker tried to perk up my employability horizons.

@alanxxx thats why i posted who these crackpots were..notice the cheif architectt had some connection in his education to do with mental health. well to me studying that is to help or enable people not be used as some kind on mind control…why should this fucker claim to know whats right for others..i also notice ppl connected to them were to do with employment and welfare and debt..

@donkey – this is what I mean about terrorism – the man was paralysed down one side for 10 years and they said he could work – what sickens me is that Field, the architect of this escalation is now bleating about the bedroom tax being unfair…. when the last bureaucrat is strangled with the guts of the last priest……

@donkey in case you are interested i posted stuff from WHO (not the doctor or pete ”i’m not a kiddy fiddler’ townsends group..about the effects on mental health and economic downturns and stuff from BMA..its on the PCS union blog void blog

chewie…there was a study commissioned on the affects/effects…of CSA..created in 1947…by the uk government apparently…to study i guess to see if there is a correlation between the aftermath of war and CAS…i have never seen this study…it is claimed by some that they have 2 sets of medical records….i wonder if this is true or not? .

@donkey CSA has been going on before , during and post war..if its a mental illness then is it treatable..thing is this ..a lot sadly CSA abusers carry on offending with little regard to the victims and the level is way beyond obsessive..the scale is over whelming..its a form of psychopathic behaviour..

Is this not the same psychobabble from way back that made claimants responsible for the social fund budget – when refused a payment at the end of a monthly cycle were absurdly told that they (as claimants) had not managed the local DSS social fund budget.

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